Learn more insights from Wanderboat AI.
Update: In reading owner Matt’s response… Matt was not even present during our brief visit to this winery, so I am very confused on how he can opine here as though he knows what happened. However, I refuse to even think about this establishment any longer…
Initial Post: When deciding to go visit this establishment, I do recommend reading their responses to the negative reviews, as I think it speaks volumes about what type of place it is. Additionally, I apologize for the long post, but I want this review to reflect exactly what transpired yesterday.
Yesterday, a group of 12 of us rented a limo service for my soon to be nieces bachelorette party. Salem Oaks was our third and last stop of our day.
Upon arriving, of which our tasting reservation was made over 2 months ago, our driver went inside and paid, then returned to tell us where we were being seated. He did this for our other two stops as well.
As there were 12 of us in our party and the 2 tables of 4 that were assigned to us were not large enough to accommodate us and as we wanted to sit together as a group, we pushed our 2 tables and a third empty table together and sat down (mind you this was after no staff approached us to assist). Once seated, a waitress approached and asked if we would like a bigger table. We told her we were fine, not wanting to disrupt anyone as we only had an hour to enjoy our wine tasting. After an additional few minutes of waiting, a waitress brought water for the table. One of the girls in our group accidentally spilled her water on the table. We asked a waitress passing by for napkins to clean up the water. After another 15 mins of waiting, with no interaction from the staff, one of the girls in our party went up to let the waitress know we only had 45 mins left at the winery and to see about starting our tasting. A few minutes later, the manager/part owner (?) approached our table and said they would not be able to serve us and our money was refunded to the driver. When asked why, we were told that we were too intoxicated to be served. The bride became upset and tried to get additional information on why we were being asked to leave. At this point, conversations did get a little heated as people were confused and trying to understand what happened to make her think we were intoxicated. The bride became frustrated, as what was a perfect day, started to become a little less than perfect. As our group got up to leave, 3 of us stopped to talk to the manager/owner in one last attempt to get more information. We asked her who from our group she thought was intoxicated. At this time, she said she was going completely off information from her servers but then apologized to us as she said she realized AFTER talking to us that no one was actually intoxicated and gave us a free bottle of wine for the bride (which the bride did not want). When we got back to the bus, our driver advised us that when he went in to pay for our tasting that he was told they had been busy all day and did not feel our $150 tasting would be worth it (this is BEFORE we even got out of the bus). I can understand listening to your servers, but as a manager/ owner, you should assess the situation for yourself. Two months ago, our $150 tasting was graciously reserved; however, because the business had a good day, they no longer needed our money and totally dismissed us after not being prepared for our reservation. Long story short, this was my first and last trip to Salem Oaks. I cannot support a business that treats anyone this way. If you don’t want to honor group tastings, don’t accept those reservations. Clearly, we were not intoxicated, which was admitted by the manager, and some in the group were not drinking at all. Recommendation… if you are looking for a cute little winery to try, go to Wagonhouse Winery. The wines were great and the staff was positively fantastic. Note however, they do have similar negative comments about accommodating groups, but we had a wonderful...
Read more
EDIT: It's extremely sad that this place needs their own employees to write good reviews. Nothing will counteract the blatant disrespect we received from this winery. Just read the other low reviews and you'll see many people have had similar experiences.
Unfortunately yesterday was a severely disappointing visit. We were a group of 12 for a bachelorette party and it was very clear the establishment was NOT prepared for us, even with over a months notice of our arrival.
Prior to even being seated, our limo driver was informed by a member of their staff that the price we paid was not worth it. What kind of place says that about their services?
We were told to sit at tables 12 and 13, this was enough room for 8 people, as stated before, we had 12. The place was basically empty so we pushed three tables together to be able to accommodate the amount of people we had.
After waiting some time, a waitress finally brought over waters for us. One of the girls at the table accidentally spilled some water, which we promptly asked for some napkins to clean it up.
After another 15 minutes, one of the girls went up to see when we would start the tasting. We were on a time constraint so at this point we only had 45 minutes left. She told us they would be with us shortly .
After a few minutes, an owner or manager came up and informed us we are being asked to leave. They informed us one of their servers said we were all extremely intoxicated, which we were not whatsoever. Naturally, we were all extremely upset by this. Upon speaking with us, the manager said after speaking with us it was clear we were not.
This whole experience put a dent in what was an amazing time. The whole situation should have been handled totally differently. The manager should have come over first and made their own decision before immediately jumping to the conclusion their server made.
They offered the bride a bottle of wine for the inconvenience, which she declined. That doesn’t even come CLOSE to make up for the poor management of this place.
I think I can speak for everyone in the party, we will not be returning. Our friends and family have been made aware of this experience.
To say I was disappointed in the way they handled themselves, would be an understatement. We were treated like absolute trash, nothing will excuse that.
Steer clear of this place, they treat their paying customers awfully and clearly their employees don’t believe in their...
Read more
This place would receive no stars from me if it was optional. Salem Oaks was our third & final stop for my friend’s bachelorette party. Because we are from Salem County, we were super excited to end our day at a spot where we considered it our roots. From the moment we got there, the staff was extremely unpleasant and unprofessional. They knew we were coming in advance, we paid them as soon as we arrived & yet had no tables set up prepared for our party. Typically, I wouldn’t see that as an issue because I get it, it gets busy. We ended up seating ourselves in the sections they told us to wait at & ironically after we did what we were told to do, our party was ignored for at least 20 minutes. After waiting that long and being completely ignored by the staff, they had one of their waitress’s come to our table and dismissed us from the place. We had no idea way, yet they claimed we were “too drunk.” ? We showed no signs of belligerency, kept it classy, we weren’t rude, nor caused any issues (until after that moment) all because the staff assumed we were “too intoxicated” to be there. In reality & to be truthful, i just believed they weren’t prepared and didn’t want to deal with us. They were extremely rude to us and it was so embarrassing how they dismissed us in front of all of the other tables in the place, because everyone had saw what happened. They could have shown a little bit of respect and decency to pull our driver who gave them the money, or one of us aside, versus doing it in the middle of the place. So if your reading this, don’t put this place on your list for wine tasting. Especially if it’s your third and/or final stop. The bride was extremely disappointed, as we all were and i will never recommend this place for anything after the poor service, discrimination, and unprofessionalism...
Read more
